


Instinctual

by Thisisentertaining



Series: Always trust Sokka's instincts [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Captivity, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Jet is crazy, Jet's freedom fighters, No pairings - Freeform, Non-Graphic Violence, Season 1 Ep 10, Sokka's instincts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:01:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25375069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisisentertaining/pseuds/Thisisentertaining
Summary: Sokka's instincts had screamed at him ever since Jet showed his smarmy, smug, wheat chewing face, but without evidence he couldn't convince Katara and Aang to listen to him. Honestly, as time went on and he couldn't find anything to support his unease he started to doubt it himself.Then Jet let him in on the Freedom Fighter's biggest secret.Sokka should have known better than to ignore his instincts.
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Always trust Sokka's instincts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883224
Comments: 160
Kudos: 2000
Collections: AtLA <25k fics to read, Our Adventures in Bending, Quality Fics, Series that I want to read once they are complete





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter of 4 of a quick idea that I had that I couldn't get out of my head. I hope you enjoy!

Jet watched Sokka with an intense concentration. The Water Tribe teen had to fight to keep from fidgeting under the scrutiny. He was not successful. For all that the wheat-chewing boy unnerved him, Sokka couldn’t deny that Jet was impressive, both in combat and at somehow managing to keep dozens of kids alive in treehouses right under the Fire Nation’s nose. Sokka had enough trouble keeping 2 kids alive on the back of a flying bison, and the Fire Nation hadn’t even known that they existed until General Mutton Chops had caught sight of them a few ports back.

Besides, you didn’t necessarily have to _trust_ someone, or like them, to want them to like _you_. He wasn’t sure _why_ he didn’t trust Jet, but his instincts had been screaming ‘bad news’ ever since they met the dude, and his instincts were never wrong. No matter what Katara said.

Well, as long as you didn’t count the whole ‘two fishooks’ incident.

Or the ‘thought Aang was Fire Nation’ thing.

Or the 'Leopard-Seal boomerang' fiasco.

Or- that wasn’t the point. His instincts were never wrong about _important_ things, and they didn’t trust Jet. He wasn’t sure why. Jet seemed to just be some cool, suave, in charge guy with a healthy hate for the bad guys. Regardless, the teen remained wary. He listened to his instincts even when no one else would.

Eventually, Jet nodded to himself. “Look, Sokka, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I think that maybe… we’re too similar. That’s why we didn’t exactly get along at first. I get you, and you get me. We’ve both been hurt by the Fire Nation, we both know that we have to always be prepared. We know that its safest if you assume everything is a trap until proven otherwise. I think you get that a lot better than a lot of the kids I bring in, definitely more than Katara and Aang.”

Sokka wanted to groan. How dare Jet not be the worst when his instincts were like this, Jet was the _worst._ Still, maybe he wasn’t wrong. Paranoia was a thing. Maybe, just this once he could… ease up on his instincts a bit. After all, Jet had trusted him enough to invite him on this patrol, he could try and meet the wheat-chewer half way.

The Water Tribe teen made himself relax against the tree they were hiding in, sending a smile at Jet that he hoped didn't look as forced as it felt. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. To be honest, I’d almost rather those two didn’t _have_ to think like that, as long as they listened when I did. But, you know.”

Jet nodded emphatically. “I _do_ know. You want to protect them, keep them away from the evils of war. I, we”- he gestured at his freedom fighters. “Do that for the rest of the kids. Try to keep them from… the worst. You get it, sometimes you have to do hard things to win this battle, but we need to do what we can to get ahead against an enemy like… that.” He shoved a hand at the general direction of the Fire-Nation-Invaded town with a scowl. “But sometimes you keep those hard things a secret, to protect them.”

Sokka squirmed, growing uncomfortable with the hard look in the older teen’s eyes, at the look that was mirrored in the eyes of all of the Freedom Fighters who had come on this patrol. He didn’t… he didn’t hide things from Katara, not even when they were hard. They were a team, had been since he’d had to lead hunting parties with all of the able bodied women in a devastated village, and the two of them had butchered their first seal pup together.

He could kinda get it. They had tried to hide what the Fire Nation Soldiers had done from Aang, but he hadn’t really _done_ anything that he tried to hide from Katara. They relied on each other too much for that. Even before the Kyoshi warriors, before he thought that women could be fighters, he'd known that his sister was tough. She was kind, and could be emotional, but he’d seen her make more than enough hard choices after their father had left. He didn’t really… hide much from her. Then again, Jet was caring for much younger people, he guessed it made sense.

Shut up, instincts. Nobody asked you.

“Yeah, uh, I-I guess.” He stammered uncertainly. Smellerbee looked at him sharply, but whatever she’d caught in his voice, Jet missed. The tan teen nodded sharply and stood.

“Alright. I think I trust you Sokka. I have something you need to see. Pipsqueak, The Duke, continue the watch. Smellerbee, with me.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Smellerbee asked, eyes darting back and forth between the two teen boys.

Jet frowned at her but nodded, determined. “I’m sure. We haven’t really been… getting anywhere with this recently, but if Sokka can convince the others, the _benders_ to help…”

The younger child’s eyes widened as she caught on to the older teen’s plan, and a small smile flit across her lips. “That’s a good point! Ok, if you’re sure. I trust you.”

Jet nodded solemnly, understanding that there were few heavier phrases. Sokka fidgeted awkwardly, no longer sure that he _wanted_ to know what they were talking about.

Who was he kidding? He was _dying_ to know, but that didn’t stop him from knowing that what ever it was, it was something Very Bad. Still, he didn’t argue as Jet abruptly turned, taking them back through the forest. Sokka shrugged and followed. He couldn’t _not_ go now.

Jet took him through a whirling path, through the woods and to one of the cavernous areas that seemed to be literally littering the earth kingdom. Like seriously, Sokka had _never_ been in the Earth Kingdom and needed a cave and not been able to find one. What was with all these caves? Did earthbenders make them for fun?

Jet walked past dozens of identical caves, weaving through the canyon with ease before slipping into the entrance of one. Immediately, the thin kid with the bow and wide-brimmed hat stepped from the darkness. The kid eyed the group in confusion, though he said nothing.

“Longshot.” Jet said in greeting and Longshot nodded in reply. “I thought our new friends might be able to help solve some of the… performance issues we’d been having.”

The younger teen looked as dubious as Smellerbee had, but silently stepped back and allowed them entrance to the cave. Sokka’s curiosity and unease had both been growing steadily at the same rate throughout the trip, and he really wished _this_ super sketchy display would help one or the other win, but nope. It was still a 1,000,000: 1,000,000.

Jet took Sokka deeper into the cave, Smellerbee electing to stick behind with Longshot. Sokka shivered as they went deeper into the earth, the temperature dropping drastically once they were out of range of the sun’s rays. The cavern was full of curving twists and turns, and it wasn’t long before the only light in source in the cave was the torch held in Jet’s hand. Sokka briefly considered that Jet had brought him there to kill him, before quickly discarding the thought. Why have Longshot guard a potential murder site? Unless… it was an _active_ murder site and Sokka was just being added to his weird criminal ledger.

Sokka knew this was a bad idea.

The teen blinked when Jet stopped, coming face to face with metal _door_ inlaid into the stone of the cavern. It looked like it had been there for a while, chisel marks and scratches betrayed where it had been fitted into the cave wall but they were old, some of the patches covered by forming stalagmites and stalactites. There were scrapes on the stone floor of the cave in a quarter circle right outside the door, showing evidence that the door was opened frequently. It was a straight metal sheet, with a square barred window about six inches long and three tall at about eye height.

“What is this?” He asked, voice uncharacteristically quiet in the eerie, still atmosphere of the cavern. Sokka had never been so certain that he was about to be murdered.

Jet simply handed him the torch, speaking equally quietly. “See for yourself.”

Yup. Mur. Dered. He’d had a good life.

Sokka gulped and accepted the fire, moving forward uncertainly. He peered through the window and found that on the other side of the door the cave expanded greatly, opening into a round basin several times larger than the cavern they’d walked through. The walls, though rough rock, were exact, forming a perfect circle roughly 45 yards wide with no entrance or exit other than the one they’d come through. It was exceedingly obvious that the place was carved by earthbenders rather than being a natural cave.

It was also obvious that the cave had seen a good number of battles. The walls were full of thin white scratches and scrapes, crumbling rock from bludgeoning weapons, dark spots of burgundy red where blood soaked into the rock, and, most telling, round patches of ash and soot on the walls and ceiling. It was a clear sign of fire bending.

All of this Sokka noticed and categorized in the back of his mind as he stared at the main feature of the room, a figure sitting in the very center with their back to the window. Even from this far away, Sokka could see a long chain stretching from the wall and pooling on the ground beside the figure, disappearing from view around where their hidden wrists or ankles might be.

“Who is that?” Sokka asked, speaking louder than before in his surprise.

The figure whirled then and Sokka locked gazes with a teenage boy only year or two older than him. The stranger’s cheeks were gaunt, his skin deathly pale except for a smattering of bruises and a dark red scar that took up half of his face. The boy looked at him in shock for a moment, then his expression morphed into a poisonous glare as Jet stepped up to join Sokka at the window.

“Firebender.” Jet replied with acid in his tone. Then, with less acid and more smirk he added. “Our training dummy.”

Sokka _knew_ he should have trusted his instincts.


	2. Chapter 2

The firebender rose to his feet is a single graceful motion and stalked towards the door, only to be stopped several yards away by the chain that tethered him to the wall by one wrist. He snarled, glaring at Jet hatefully. “So, you decided to start showing off your _pet_?” He spat, looking seconds away from simply melting his bindings off in his rage.

Jet ignored him and turned to Sokka. “We captured him a while back after he discovered our hideout. We couldn’t let him go after that. Pipsqueak likes exploring the caves, so we'd already known about this place for months. We'd had the door installed already and everything. Originally, it had been to lock up our more… dangerous assets, like the blasting jelly barrels. But we figured it could keep someone in just as easily as it kept people out. We added the chain to be safe and…” He gestured to the setup nonchalantly.

Seriously, nonchalantly. Like this was just a regular Tuesday for him.

Holy crap, this was just a regular Tuesday for him. Jet was _insane._

The Earth Kingdom teen didn't seem to notice his companion’s internal revelation and continued talking. “For a while we used him for training.” He gestured at the clear marks of fighting and firebending that littered the cavern. “It was great practice for fighting against firebenders. Most people never get to fight a firebender until it’s life or death on the battlefield. They don’t get an opportunity to _really_ practice, to train against them. We do. It’s why we were able to take out that camp like we did.”

“I- I guess I never thought about it like that.” Sokka said, still stunned. He felt like he should say _something_ by this point.

“For a while it _worked_.” Jet said. “Sure, we got a few burns here and there, but we were fighting better than ever. We were effective. But then… he stopped. He must have figured out what we were doing or something. He hasn't firebent since.”

The teen seethed, growling at the window. “I _refuse_ to allow you to use me against my people.”

Sokka jumped slightly, but was soon back peering in at the angry teen who, sure enough, wasn’t firebending. Even in the flickering and weak light of the torch Sokka could see that the prisoner was covered in a motley of discoloring bruises and healing scrapes. “He stopped fighting and what, you guys just kept trying to beat the firebending out of him?” He asked, anger peeking into his voice.

Jet let out a harsh bark of laughter. “What? Heck no.” He lifted his shirt a little to reveal expansive bruising of his own. “Kid’s got plenty of fight in him, even without the fire.”

“O-oh.” Sokka stammered as the boy started pacing the length of his chain, looking all like a caged wolf-orca.

The Earth Kingdom teen’s expression turned more serious. “But it isn’t as good of training as it was. We _need_ to keep practicing against firebending if we want to stay one step ahead of them like we are now. We _need_ this Sokka.”

The younger teen squirmed uncomfortably, his eyes never leaving the pacing captive. He really didn’t like this. The way Jet said everything made it sound… logical. It made sense. He said it like it wasn’t horrible.

But it was. Horrible.

Wasn’t it? This was Fire Nation.

It was a kid.

A _Fire Nation_ kid.

This… he didn’t know.

“What do you want me to do about it?” He asked, tone much less belligerent than his words implied.

“He’s good enough with hand to hand that he can fight against us without bending because we’re on equal level. But if we bring a bender in…”

“He might have to bend again.”

“Exactly.”

The firebender had stopped his pacing and gone back to sitting with his back to the door, snubbing them deliberately. It made Sokka wonder if he’d been ignoring them when they had first arrived, instead of unaware like he’d originally assumed. Sokka bit back a shiver. If _he_ was alone in this place all day, he'd be desperate for someone to talk to. It would take a lot of strength to ignore anyone, even your captors. Somehow, that made him feel worse about the whole thing and he scrambled for a way to get himself out of this.

“That wouldn’t help you guys learn to fight firebending much though.”

Jet shook his head. “We just need to get him bending again as a start. We can worry about the rest of it once we get there. Besides, we can always watch the fight to learn what we can. Even if it’s not quite as good as one on one sparring, it’ll help more than what we’re getting now.” The teen stepped back and looked to Sokka. “What do you think? Can you convince Aang and Katara to help?”

NOPE. 

Sokka could literally not see a single way that would work. Katara would take one look at this- this chilly cell that had never see the sun and the beat up kid chained to the wall and her mama saber-tooth-moose-lion would come out. Fire Nation or no, that wasn’t something his brave, idealistic sister would stand for. The firebender would be one mother-related sob story away from being adopted. Aang might just burst into the Avatar State.

It would have the added benefit of finally getting the two of them to stop being so infatuated with literally everything Jet did but…

No. Sokka couldn’t tell them about this until he knew how _he_ felt about it, what he should do. He had a feeling Jet wouldn’t like that answer though. He had to think fast, give an answer that would keep Jet satisfied without actually promising anything. Improv skills, don’t fail him now.

“I don’t know… this isn’t really their _thing_ you know. I mean, Aang is a monk. He doesn't really do violence in the first place and Katara… I think I could convince them, you know, given time. But I’m gonna need a while, a few days at _least_ to like, warm them up to the idea before I actually spring this on them, you know?”

“We can’t afford for you to waste time!” Jet yelled angrily, his voice cutting across the echoing space sharply. The firebender flinched, Sokka barely catching sight of the movement out of the corner of his eye. The Water Tribe teen was suddenly very very temped to bring Katara here after all. But, no. No, this was still a firebender, the enemy. He was the plan guy. He could figure out how to do it the smart way.

After he figured out what he wanted ‘it’ to be.

“Really?” The pony-tailed boy asked, voice purposely nonchalant and rimmed in mockery. “Cause it seems to me like you’ve gone a long time without being able to train with sparky here. Aaannd it seems to me that unless I can convince Katara and Aang, you’d be going another long, long time before you get to do it again.” Jet didn’t reply to that and simply glared at Sokka angrily, petulantly, so the younger teen continued. Time to bring it home. “So, I think you ought to give me the time that I need to do what needs to be done. Sound good, puffy hair?”

He heard a snort from in the cell and Jet whirled. He banged a fist against the door in a wordless threat that left a ringing clang in the air, but the prisoner didn’t flinch this time. Instead, the teen jumped back to his feet in a battle stance. “You want a fight?” The bruised boy yelled, once more at the end of his tether. “Why don’t you jump in here and I can show this peasant just how much I can do without bending… puffy hair.” The boy smirked, throwing his head so that his own hair- stringy, patchy, and generally unhealthy- flopped behind his back.

Sokka had to fight back a smile. Huh. He just realized, his gut don’t-trust reaction that he’d had ever since meeting Jet… wasn’t going off for this kid. Weird. Maybe it was because he was so obviously bad news-Fire Nation, _firebender_ , with a temper to match-that his instincts didn’t think they needed to weigh in.

Jet looked like he was seriously a few seconds away from actually going into the cell to throw down when Smellerbee ran through the tunnels. “Just heard the signal from The Duke. They had caught someone in the forest. It was an all clear, so they must have handled it, but they’ll want to debrief with you.”

Jet looked back into the cell reluctantly before nodding. “Thanks, Smellerbee. It’s almost your shift here, mind starting a bit early so that Longshot can lead Sokka back to the hideout? Sneers will be by with lunch in a bit.”

She shrugged, accepting that as the three of them made their way back towards the entrance. Sokka glanced back as they left to see the firebending teen slump, as though disappointed, before settling into a set of smooth practiced movements. Yeah, Sokka got that. He would have a difficult time sitting still after that conversation too.

* * *

Zuko bent his knees and started a traditional basic kata, one he could do in his sleep. He needed to _move_ , needed to be active after being denied the fight and action he craved.

He didn’t used to crave fights. He remembered that. Before, he was prone to fits of rage just as any firebender was, but he wasn't necessarily violent. He’d been confident in his abilities, he’d enjoyed learning new combat moves but he'd never… he'd never _desired_ violence.

Now, it was all he had. Violence, fighting, and this endlessly monotonous cage.

Well, it used to be monotonous.

He didn’t like that things were changing. That couldn't mean anything good. Zuko had been in this pit for what he knew was _years_ and Jet had never brought in anyone who wasn’t one of his freedom fighters. Zuko hadn’t even seen any of the other kids that were apparently a part of Jet’s pack other than their healer, Meddi-Man. 

Until now. Because it was obvious this new kid wasn’t Jet’s. He didn’t obey, didn’t have that yearning for approval that the freedom fighters all oozed. He was an outsider, a visitor. Jet brought him in anyway. Zuko didn’t like the implications of that, or the look in Jet’s eye.

Zuko finished the kata and started another, still a basic set. He needed his mind to be blank, needed to try and think through this, understand the implications of what had just happened. He had to come up with a plan, figure out what he could do.

He couldn’t do anything.

He hasn’t been able to do anything for years but sit in the dark and try and face whatever they sent his way. Anger rose in the teen, and his movements grew sharper, more intense. He punched out his finishing move, felt his chi stir in response to his fury, though no flame came. He couldn’t do anything.

As Zuko started up another set, in his anger his mind turned back to the conversation he’d overheard.

_We captured him a while back after he discovered our hideout. We couldn’t let him go after that…_

Jet made it sound like he’d been hunting them down, running around with threats and fireballs. The boy grimaced as he remembered the truth. He’d been banished from his home after disgracing his father and displaying cowardice in his Agni Kai. He was forbidden from entering Fire Nation territory, including the colonial ports where Fire Nation ships were welcome to anchor. The captain of the ship escorting him was merciful enough not to drop him off at a Earth Kingdom port when he was wounded, helpless, and so obviously Fire Nation. That mercy did not extend to going out of their way to find a neutral port. Instead he’d been dropped off at the edge of a stretch of forest, left leaning against the one rock sitting on the small sandy beach they’d stopped at.

One of the sailors, an older crewman, had snuck a small bag into his pocket. Zuko had waited until the ship was far from sight before risking pulling it out. It had been a purse, nearly full to bursting, a single pai sho tile, and a letter from Uncle Iroh. The letter had a list of towns and people who would help him, codewords that he could use to convince them to help, and a promise to wait for him at the neutral Kyoshi Island in a few months time, the soonest he could go without rousing the Fire Lord’s suspicions.

Zuko had read and reread that letter a dozen times, memorizing every line and brushstroke. Then he’d set his hand on fire and burned it.

It was the first firebending he’d done since before the Agni Kai.

For days he’d wandered through the woods, following the river. He’d tried to be a good student. He’d studied. He'd never been as impressive as Azula of course, but he had enough of a grasp of geography to know that he was near a Fire Nation Colony called Gaipan. He knew that the river would lead him to the town's reservoir. Technically it was illegal for him to go there, it was against the statutes of his banishment to be on Fire Nation soil, including colonies. But… his eye had hurt _so bad._

The healer on the ship had told him that his burn had healed enough that infection wasn't a huge risk, but it still _hurt_. It felt like his father was still there, teaching him his lesson. Any time he moved, agony shot through him. Sounds on his left side were dulled, and he was terrified to try and lift the bandages. It was better to let the darkness be because of the bandages than anything permanent. The best burn creams were made in the Fire Nation. He wanted- he _needed_ \- something effective, not whatever these backwoods Earth Kingdom peasants had cooked up in the past 100 years.

He’d just hurt so bad. He’d wanted it to stop.

Zuko had been half delirious with that pain, staggering through the woods with lurching steps. His good eye was swimming, his hair plastered to his skin with sweat. He’d fallen, tripping on a rock. When he looked up, he’d been surrounded.

Zuko could remember the panic he’d felt at that moment. He hadn’t realized how small-how young- most of the strangers were. He hadn’t noticed the gentle smile on the leader’s face at the sight of a child in need. He’d only known danger. He’d only known that he was on his knees, and someone was reaching a hand out toward him. His only thought had been _not again._

He’d punched up, once, sending a flash of fire at the nearest figure before scrambling to his feet. The Freedom Fighters had jumped back in fear following the attack. For a moment, none of the children dared to move. Then Jet had screamed, _Firebender_ , and they attacked.

Zuko would like to say that he gave as good as he got, but he'd been in so much pain. He hadn’t firebent offensively in weeks and his balance was off due the newfound blindness and deafness on his left. Moments into the fight, Jet had gotten a lucky kick across the left side of his face, and that was all it took. He would never if he had lost consciousness, but for the next moments the world was empty beyond a harsh ringing in his ears and overwhelming pain.

By the time he’d been aware again he’d been trussed up so soundly that he could barely twitch, let alone move. They had evidently decided what to do with him while he was still out of it, as he'd opened his eyes to see the smaller kids giving Jet quick salutes before running off.

The Earth Kingdom teen had knelt down beside the bound Zuko, placing a feather-light touch to the bandage on the side of his face. Zuko froze, barely daring to breath in light of that silently effective threat. “Listen firebender,” He’d spat, as though the word were the ultimate insult. “You lost. We won. I have no love for the Fire Nation. I’d do to your entire lot what you did to the Air Nomads if I had half the chance, and you’re here wrapped up for me like a present. You are in no position to test me. Do you understand?”

Zuko had forced out a “Yes.” Unwilling to nod and move his face.

It didn’t matter, as Jet added more pressure at his next words. “Good. Then here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to sit back, listen, and not give us any reason to make your already bad day a whole lot worse. Got it?”

Zuko grit his teeth, both against the pain and in fury as he spat out another “Yes.” This one was filled with spite, malice, and the smallest flicker of flame.

Jet had nodded, removing his hand without a word and stepping back. The big one, Pipsqueak, had then thrown Zuko over his shoulder. The sudden movement had been too much for him, especially when added to his recent attack of pain and the constant dizziness he’d felt since losing the left side of his face. He’d thrown up all over the larger boy’s back.

It was, in retrospect, the thing Zuko was most proud of doing that day.

Jet had blindfolded him then, spitting out insults that the Fire Nation teen barely heard over the ringing in his ear. Zuko was instead preoccupied with avoiding showing weakness by whimpering as the tight blindfold dug into his tender burn. 

The blindfold hadn’t been removed until he was dropped onto a cave floor. The cave had been dark, lit only by a few scattered torches near where Smellerbee and Longshot were moving boxes out of the storage space. Back then he hadn't know what true darkness was. Pipsqueak was hammering one end of the chain into the stone wall, and was still working in the last nail when Sneers came back in with the thin, nerdy looking kid that ended up being their healer. Zuko had been galled to discover that the Earth Kingdom burn cream was nearly as effective as anything he’d find in the Fire Nation after all.

New cream and bandages applied, iron manacle on his wrist, Zuko had been left alone to burn off the ropes and wonder why he was still alive.

That had been years ago, and he hadn’t left the cave since. He hadn’t seen anybody beyond those six until The Duke was considered old enough to join in on the ‘special’ training. Just day after day of the same still darkness, broken only by the presence of one of those seven people who hated his guts. Until now, when Jet decided to start showing him off like he was a particularly exotic zoo exhibit.

They hadn’t even acknowledged him, for all that they were talking about him. He might as well have been an interesting piece of art, or a yapping pet. There had been no answers to his questions, no reactions to his words. He was ignored, just as he always was.

Until the end that is. Zuko smirked and moved into an advanced kata. _Puffy hair._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if I am going to be able to stop at 4 chapters or if I will need to stretch it to 5, but got some more content coming hopefully soon!!!
> 
> Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy!

Fast, purposeful footsteps broke Zuko out of his meditation. Though the teen hadn’t had reason to smile in quite a while, the stern lines of his face lessened. Meal time.

There was no time telling device in his cave, he couldn’t even properly feel the sun anymore, but for a bunch of kids the Freedom Fighters were surprisingly disciplined. They stuck to their schedule well, and it hadn't been long before his body grew accustomed to it.

He folded out of his strict meditation position and stood to face the door. His relaxed face tightened into a deep scowl when he saw who exactly was bringing his meal. Jet met his scowl head on as unlocked the door. The tan teen slammed the door closed behind him and dropped the tray to the floor just inside the cell- far out of reach of Zuko’s chain.

“Head’s up.” The Earth Kingdom teen said, and that was all the warning he gave before two wooden rods were thrown at Zuko's face. Well used to this treatment, the prisoner easily plucked them out of the air and had them up in a crossed blocking position just in time for one of Jet’s swords to land in the center of the ‘X’.

His grip tightened on the rods and he felt comfort in the familiar feeling of weapons in his hand. While sewing up a particularly bad gash on Zuko’s arm during one of the earlier training sessions, Meddi-Mad had insisted that they either used dulled weapons or make sure Zuko was armed. Jet wasn’t a fan of using anything other than his swords. He’d made do back when Zuko was firebending, but ever since he'd stopped…

Dowels still crossed and trapping Jet’s right-hand blade, Zuko shot out a leg aimed at the other teen’s middle. Jet was forced to jump back and disengage. He curved around, ensuring that he was staying in the radius of Zuko’s chain as they faced off. He'd had a lot of practice at it.

Zuko took the offensive then, charging at the other teen with a furious flurry of attacks, some of which landed, but the majority were blocked or evaded. The teen moved into a quick crouch and hooked Zuko’s ankle with the crook of his sword, pulling the paler teen to the ground. Jet had improved a lot since they’d first started ‘training’.

The firebender folded his hands above his head and used the momentum to jump to his feet in a single move. So had Zuko.

The first training session wasn’t actually… a bad memory. Not based on his, rather skewered, metric at least. It had actually been something of a relief. For weeks after he was first locked in the cave, _nothing_ had happened. Meddi-man had come to replace the bandages every other day, someone would bring him food twice a day, and _no one would tell him what they wanted with him._ It had driven him crazy. He'd feared that his days were numbered, that they would try to ransom him and realize that they wouldn’t get a single penny for a recently banished prince.

Well, Uncle Iroh might have paid _something,_ but they had already taken the money that the man had snuck him, and Zuko doubted that word would ever get to the elder prince.

He'd spent panicked days doing nothing but sitting in pain and wondering why they were keeping him alive and in relative comfort. After than, it had almost been a relief when Jet had barged into his cell with a sword drawn. As had become customary, Zuko had greeted the teen with a blast of fire aimed at the small window of the cell. As was not at all customary, Jet had grinned at the attack, saying “Looks like you’re eager for a fight, get ready to prove it.”

That first fight had only lasted less than a minute, with Jet being pulled out through the door with his clothes smoldering. The rest of the freedom fighters had all taken a turn as well, but overall the entire first ‘training session’ had lasted less than 5 minutes. Three of that had been against Longshot because it was hard for him to reach the archer.

Jet was _much_ better now.

Unfortunately.

Zuko managed to duck back as Jet took several swipes at his head and chest, dropping to attempt to sweep the older teen’s legs out from under him. Jet smoothly jumped over Zuko’s kick, and brought down one arm in a chopping motion that sent his sword to crash over Zuko’s head. The Fire Nation teen brought up his clubs in another ‘X’ shaped block, and therefore had no way to stop the other sword swinging straight to his unprotected side.

Jet struck swiftly, strong and true, stopping a millimeter from slicing Zuko open to gently tap his side with the blade. Zuko grunted to acknowledge the blow that could have hit and the two disengaged, taking a moment to slowly circle one another, blade in every hand, strangely warped mirrors of each other.

Jet had actually only had one sword when they met years ago. He’d used it as well as an untrained and desperate 14-year-old operating on talent alone could. Zuko had somehow managed to disarm both him and Pipsqueak. The hooked sword and cudgel were completely different sizes and weights, he was off balance and the grips didn’t fit his hands well. Still, it was almost like having his dual dao again, and something in him had eased. It was the first time he’d fought without using firebending at all, moving through the stances Piandao had taught him with a fluidity and grace that he never felt when using his worse-than-his-sister bending.

He must have looked as impressive as he felt, as Jet had showed up with a second blade not a week later.

Zuko sometimes still mocked the Earth Kingdom teen for copying him. Less so now, since Jet actually knew how to use the things.

The prince darted forward, ducking under Jet’s defensive swings. In an impressive show of flexibility, he shot up a leg while crouched and laid a kick flat against the other teen’s chest. Simultaneously, he struck his club against the crook of Jet’s curved blade, forcing the weapon from the teen’s hands.

Jet grunted as the blow sent him falling to the ground with only one blade. Zuko moved quickly, attacking the felled teen, but Jet managed to roll out of the radius of his chain and kick his sword far out of the firebender’s reach. Zuko growled at he was brought short, reaching for the boy ineffectively.

Jet had never _dared_ to come alone before. Every other “training session” there had always been at least 2 others to protect him or subdue Zuko. This was his _chance_ to- to- well, he didn’t necessarily want to kill the other teen, even now, but he could take him hostage and threaten it. Or just refuse to give him back. He could- he could- he could do nothing, because now Jet was standing a few mere feet outside.

Zuko snarled, an angry, animalistic thing as a potential chance at freedom mocked him from just outside his reach. An infuriating smirk peeked out from behind that stalk of wheat, but Jet didn’t move. In frustration, the banished prince violently threw the clubs at the other teen. Jet dodged the first, but the second nailed him hard in the ribs. Jet doubled over as the air was driven from his lungs, and Zuko leaned forward again, able to reach just far enough for his finger to brush against the soft poof of the other boy's hair. He growled wordlessly in frustration as he got no closer than that, unable to get a grip on _puffy hair’s_ locks.

However, when Jet finally straightened, he looked even more frustrated than Zuko. An impressive feat given the Fire Nation boy’s well-known furious temper. “Why won’t you just _firebend_?” The tan teen snarled. “I’m _right here_!” His shout rang and echoed in the spacious cavern.

Zuko’s heart beat furiously in his chest, even as he twisted his face to show contempt. He hoped it hid his terror. “I won’t let you use me against my people. Not anymore.” He repeated his common refrain. Licking his lips, Zuko tried to turn the conversation away from bending. He wasn’t optimistic, Jet often had a one-track mind. Unfortunately, the teen was very good at finding new and unusual ways to stay on that track.

“What? The Water Tribe peasant not working out like you thought?” Zuko taunted. “You finally meet someone who doesn’t kiss the ground you walk on and suddenly you can’t manipulate them like you want. Fancy that.”

Jet snarled at him, looking seconds away from starting round two. “The situation is more complicated that you could know, firebender, but I promise you Sokka’s cooperation isn’t the issue. He’s not about to have a change of heart and suddenly show up to set you free.”

“I didn’t think he would.” Zuko snapped honestly. He knew that life didn’t work out like that. Not for him. He was lucky to be born, and hasn’t had a single iota of luck since.

“In fact…” Jet smirked, “In fact I don’t need to waste one of my Freedom Fighters watching you, not when I have other plans that I could be working on while you sit here refusing to bend." Jet smirked and started walking out of the room. He reached the door and Zuko started, chain rattling as he held up a hand.

“Hey, wait- you-“

“You can expect a brand new guard tomorrow, firebender. I’d tell you to behave, but I think I’ll save my breath.”

“Wait, you forgot-“

The metal door clanged shut against the stone of the cave as Jet left, forgetting the tray of food at the foot of the door and well out of Zuko’s reach.

Zuko scowled at the innocuous looking tray, the usual meal of rice, dried meat, and various fruits and veggies. His growl was mirrored by his stomach as he watched the platter, but no matter how much he glared the tray did not magically grow legs and walk up to him. With a huff he moved back against the wall and sat, centering his breathing until he was calm once more.

It had never even occurred to him to hope that Water Tribe would free him, so he supposed that it was _something_ that Jet didn’t take away some secretly kindling hope. No, his situation was just as hopeless as it had been last week, and the week before, and the week before that, and the years before that.

No one was coming to look for him. His Uncle had probably forgotten about him the week after he didn’t show at Kyoshi. His mother was gone and his father… Father had never wanted him back.

That had been a hard lesson to learn, and maybe one he never would have realized had he had _anything_ to do for the last few years beyond sit in the dark and _think_. It had started with a simple thought, only a few months into his captivity. _This would never have happened to Azula._

Then, it had shifted to _Father would never have banished Azula in the first place._ His mind had immediately wanted to follow that line of thought, but he’d rejected it that first day. He had instead forced himself into a Kata, despite his still-functioning internal clock saying it was the middle of the night.

A few nights later, the thoughts had returned, and were joined by a question. _Why would Father do this to me when he would never have done it to Azula?_

Those thoughts had festered in the back of his head. They were angry, despairing thoughts that he tried unsuccessfully to ignore. They kept coming back. A few nights later, bitter and in pain after a particularly brutal training session, the thought had come unbidden. _Father always preferred Azula anyway, I bet he’s_ glad _that she get’s to be his heir now. He was always so proud of her._

That thought had been poison, striking him with a fearsome blow that had felt physical. Then, _Did Father banish me on purpose so that Azula could inherit the title? Was that his plan all along?_

The thoughts had seemed ludicrous when he woke the next morning. Of course not. Father loved him. He’d _had_ to banish Zuko after the cowardice and disrespect he’d shown. In his foolishness, Zuko had forced his father’s reluctant hand. Ozai hadn’t wanted to do any of this.

Maybe, he could have convinced himself of that. Maybe he could still believe that his father loved him, if only he’d had _anything_ to do that would keep the thoughts from returning that night. And the next. And the next. Each night, the traitorous, hateful thoughts seemed stronger, and each morning the platitudes and excuses seemed weaker. After all, it would have been well within his Father’s royal right to decree a Quest Banishment, a goal that Zuko could complete in order to return. In fact, it was customary for any banished nobility to be given such a quest as a chance to prove their loyalty and regain their honor. Zuko was _royalty_ , the Firelord’s own son, and Ozai couldn’t even be bothered to make up something impossible for him to do.

So the thoughts continued, and the excuses grew more quiet, until one morning he awoke, and found he'd accepted the accusations as truth. Father didn’t want his loyal son to return. Zuko had been disfigured and banished for a minuscule slight that could be construed into _just_ enough of an insult that the Firelord could make sure his sister wore the crown. Zuko could never expect to go home, even if he escaped.

He’d nearly fried Sneers into a crisp that day, his anger and emotion fueling his flame into a beast.

Now, he clung to each day, just trying to survive until the next moment, never sure if any would be his last. He just had to try to stay alive, try to be enough value to the Freedom Fighters without harming his people in the process. They alone would be able to decide if he should live or die. Zuko felt like his sister’s friend Ty Lee, walking on a razor thin line and liable to fall off in any moment. It was the reason why he couldn't let Jet realize-

The boy was broken from his thoughts when footsteps sounded from the other side of the door. He glanced up to see torch light flickering through the small window. A moment later, Pipsqueak stood in the open doorway.

The elder teen nodded at Zuko and smiled softly, amused. “Jet forgot about the food until he was halfway to the entrance, but he was too proud to come back. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that part, but…”

Zuko smirked and nodded to the clubs against the opposite wall. That was the rule, he had to turn in his weapons before he was allowed food. He’d denied himself too often uselessly in the past to bother now. It didn’t hurt them for him to go hungry, just him. He liked to think he was still stubborn, but he’d also learned the delicate skill of give and take.

Pipsqueak handed him the tray and moved to grab the clubs, dropping to sit cross legged across from Zuko at a distance safely outside of his range. Zuko eyed him warily as Pipsqeak sighed.

“I feel like something is going on with Jet. I have for a while now, but recently his plans have been getting… darker. His temper is shorter, he’s more paranoid, and he’s showing off more. I’m really worried about him.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. He never felt more trapped than when the Freedom Fighter tried to talk to him about their problems. Or anything really. Captive audience indeed. He’d much rather Jet came back with the swords.

“Don’t get me wrong.” Pipsqueak said, as though Zuko had offered some sort of opinion. He hadn’t. He tried to talk as little as possible during these kinds of heart to hearts, he certainly didn’t want to encourage them to happen more often. “Jet is brilliant, and he’s done a lot for all of us. He’s helped so many kids, keeping them safe and giving them a home. His plans almost always work, and I know that protecting these kids is the right thing. I’m worried, but I still trust Jet implicitly.”

Seriously, why couldn’t Pipsqueak have just wanted to beat him up?

“I don’t.” Zuko grumbled, tearing at a piece of dried meat. He hadn’t really… meant anything by that comment. It was true of course, but it was just one of the many bitter, grumpy, complaining thoughts that he voiced whenever he was forced to speak with one of Jet’s little minions.

However, for some reason, that made Pipsqueak pause. The larger boy eyed Zuko with something deep, unfathomable, and uncomfortable in his eyes. Something that Zuko had never seen in them before. “No… I guess you wouldn’t.”

* * *

Sokka threw his boomerang, watching it bend around the forest around him in exacting angles before thudding into the log of a tree. That particular tree had a myriad of similar boomerang-wounds and Sokka grinned at his success before moving to grab the weapon and reset. The repetitive action of practice lulled him into a sense of ease and peace that had been lacking of late. Back home he could spend hours training. There wasn’t much time for it on the road, so he was getting some practice in while he could.

Besides, he came up with his best plans when his boomerang in hand. Sometimes he felt like there was a direct correlation between the weapon and his mind. Something about watching the blue and silver streak through the air exactly to where he wanted it to go just… freed his mind.

He needed some good ideas right now.

He felt like it should be simple. Kidnapping was wrong. Keeping someone as a prisoner and forcing them to fight was wrong. He should do something to stop it.

But on the other hand…

It should be simple. The Fire Nation was evil. The firebender was probably evil. If this guy got out, he would immediately tell all of his evil buddies and they would attack. There were dozens of kids here, living in treehouses in the woods because they had nowhere else to go. They didn’t deserve to lose their home to the Fire Nation _again_. Plus, training to effectively fight firebenders was a _good_ thing, and if the way they took out that camp was any indication, it was working.

They’d been in the camp for three days now, but he hadn’t gotten any further than those two circular thoughts. It was like when he threw boomerang. His thoughts would go one way for a minute, then they would come right back around the other way. Over and over again.

He hadn’t told his sister or Aang yet either, though he’d done some work to get Jet’s cronies to think he did. Just a little ‘hey Katara, wouldn’t it be cool if you could practice your bending against _real_ firebenders. You know, just to practice.’ In front of Pipsqueak.

She had of course answered, ‘I guess, but there’s no way a firebending would willingly teach me to fight against them’, and Sokka had to change the conversation before he could blurt out that the whole ‘willing’ part might not be a factor.

He’d also sprinkled in some, ‘hey Aang, do you want to see if anyone wants to spar? Or I guess it won’t do much to prepare you to fight the Fire Nation.’ when Jet was nearby. Aang had predictably given Sokka a lecture about how violence was wrong for a good 15 minutes, which he’d endured only to rub it in Jet’s face that convincing them wouldn’t be as easy as the Earth Kingdom teen wanted it to be.

(Not that he necessarily wanted to convince them.

Not that he necessarily _didn’t_.

Ah. Boomerang thoughts.)

Sokka figured he’d earned himself a few days peace with that display, but it would have helped if he knew what to do during those days. Sure, Katara was having a good time drooling after Jet, and Aang was living his best life playing in the woods, but he was no closer to knowing what he wanted to do.

The teen turned his back to the target tree and threw the boomerang in the opposite direction. It had just left his hand when a familiar, obnoxious, voice called out in greeting.

“Hey!” Sokka turned to see Jet, suavely leaning against _his_ tree, wheat in mouth. The tan teen smirked. “Looks like you miss-“

“Get down!” Sokka shrieked, voice reaching decibels he wouldn’t have though _Katara_ could hit. “Getdown getdown getdown!” He called as the weapon curved around.

Surprised, Jet dropped to the forest floor mere second before Boomerang hit the bullseye once more, directly where Jet had been.

Sokka breathed out a sigh of relief and scrambled over to help the, no longer suave looking, boy to his feet. Jet looked at the blade embedded in the tree, seeming truly impressed for the first time they had met. Or, well the first time he was impressed with _Sokka_. The benders impressed him plenty.

“Sorry about that, but come on, really? Why would you stand in front of a tree full of scratches?” Sokka groused as he pulled Jet to his feet.

“Sorry. Didn’t realize what that thing could do. You’re good with it.”

“Well you know me, I’m the boomerang guy.” Sokka laughed nervously. He _hated_ it when Jet complimented him.

Nodding, Jet pulled the weapon from the tree and proffered it to Sokka, who silently slid it back into it’s holster. Sokka cleared his throat. “So, uh, did you follow me out here for a boomerang lesson, or…”

“Are you offering?”

“Um, do you have access to boomerangs? They’re pretty hard to make. One of my tribe’s elders made this one. He’s teaching me, but I still hadn’t quite gotten the balance right when…”

When a magical boy popped out of an iceberg and started dragging him and his sister around the world for adventures, near death experiences, and moral conundrums.

Jet shook his head. “Then maybe not. I actually wanted to ask you a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yeah. I see what you mean about Aang and Katara being hard to convince. Since we have to wait, I want to start going ahead on some other plans I’ve had in the woodwork. Thing is, I’d rather have my whole team of Freedom Fighter with me. Would you be willing to take a few shifts to watch the firebender?”

Sokka gaped. Widely. Unseemingly. He knew he looked like an elephant-koi, but he couldn’t seem to stop. “You want me to- you _trust_ me with- with that?”

“I told you Sokka, I think we understand each other. I think we’re similar. Maybe some time with the firebender is exactly what you need to figure out how to talk to your friends.”

“Yeah, maybe…” Or maybe it will just make his moral quandary worse. Or- or it could actually solve everything. If the firebender was a totally evil sending-a-dozen-soldier-to-fight-a-bunch-of-orphans, lying, honorless, Fire Nation piece of scum then _poof_. All of his indecision would be gone. It was perfect. “Okay, yeah. Yeah! That’s a great idea, Jet! I’ll do it.”

“Great!” The older teen smiled, the wheat stalk rising into the air. “We can get you a shift tomorrow morning. I’ll take you myself to give you a lay of the land. It’s pretty simple though, just sitting in a cave and bringing him meals.”

Sokka nodded. Okay, it was time for plan ‘Make a Plan’, he could do this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jet and Zuko finally get to meet!
> 
> So, this chapter ended up really long, so I am changing it to 5 chapters! So there is more to come!
> 
> I've gotten a lot of questions about some of the 'people using Zuko for training' fics I mentioned liking. So, the ones with the Dai Li are 'The Way that We Rust' by r_astra and 'Until the Walls Break Like Waves' by attackfish.  
> Then, there's similar themes with the Water Tribe in 'The Worst Prisoner:the element of change (Book 1); by emletish 
> 
> If you guys know of others, please let me know!!!

Sokka groaned, the sound one of pure boredom. He was sprawled out near the entrance of the cave, beside the hideout Jet had showed him. It was actually pretty cool. There was a small crevice on the side of the cave that led to an open area. Eye holes were set at just the right area so that if you wanted, you could clearly see the canyon while remaining completely hidden. There was even a skylight that let the sun in and kept the room bright.

Definitely Earthbenders.

Jet said that Longshot thought that the place had once been some kind of illegal hideout, like a speakeasy or one of the underground fighting rings that were apparently all over the Earth Kingdom, and the crevice was their lookout spot.

It turned out former illegal hideouts were a great place to hide current illegal activities like kidnapping, who knew.

It was obvious that the freedom fighters had done stuff to make the place more comfortable. There were simple hay-filled pillows laid around alongside some extra blankets. No books, but there were simple games and tools to sharpen weapons, as well as some stuff that looked like it was for arrow-making and a pile of wooden practice weapons.

Sokka had used the tools to sharpen his boomerang, his machete-club, and his hunting knives, but that had taken all of 20 minutes. He’d mastered the ‘cup-ball’ game, fluffed every pillow, and paced the small room a couple dozen times and there were still _hours_ left before the end of his shift.

So. Bored.

Now, one may ask: Sokka, I thought you were going to make a plan, why don’t you make a plan. Well Sokka had a simple answer for that. Just as it is hard to drink when your lips are numb, or hard to walk when your foot was numb, so too was it was hard to plan when you mind was numb. And the cave was _mind-numbingly_ boring. So there.

The boy ran a frustrated hand over his face. Okay, now he was making up fake arguments was himself. He had officially hit rock bottom.

… which probably meant that he should stop avoiding going to see the firebender.

With an aggrieved sigh, the Water Tribe teen stood and grabbed a torch off the wall and lit it with a set of spark rock. Okay, okay he could do this. He was water tribe, a warrior. He traveled with the last southern waterbender and the Avatar. He was no coward.

He just hoped that this Firebender was obviously evil enough that this whole thing would seem reasonable. That would have to be pretty evil, but he’d seen it in Fire Benders before, his mother’s murderer, Zhao, most of the Fire Sages. He just had to hope he’d see it in this kid too.

His instincts told him that wouldn’t be the case, and that was what scared him more than anything.

Sokka had the entire walk down the cave to think about what exactly he could say to the firebender, shivering in the cooler air as he walked further and further from the sun. What precisely does one say to a captive 16 year old chained to a wall in order to determine their amount of evilness?

He still hadn’t _quite_ figured it out when he came up to the locked metal door. Jet had given him the key to the door, though not to the manacle, so that he could go into the cell to give the guy food or whatever. Jet had given him a comically long list of rules and ‘Do Not’s’ before leaving. All of which Sokka intended to ignore.

Okay, so he hadn’t been paying attention to what they were in the first place.

It’s fine.

The teen looked through the window and paused. Oh cool, the firebender was doing katas now. He watched in interest for a few moments. The movements looked so different from Katara’s moves, it was kind of interesting, different. Not quite as flow-y but just as graceful. Come to think of it, the moves were pretty different from Zhao and his crew too. They almost reminded him of the basic katas Dad had taught him for his machete-club before he’d left. No, the firebender was using his off arm more. It reminded him kinda of Kyoshi island. Not quite as smooth, but moves for two weapons maybe?

Curious, the teen leaned against the door for a moment and just watched, intrigued by the graceful movements.

* * *

Zuko was calm. He was in control. His mind was clear, centered on his kata and movements. He’d carefully switched to a dual dao set the moment light started to creep into his cage, lest his give away any secrets. Not that people usually lingered. Jet and the freedom fighters never came this deep without a purpose. Sometimes that meant fighting or worse, interacting, with them but they would always butt in as soon as they made it to the door.

Apparently, not this guy.

Jet had mentioned that Water Tribe was going to be his keeper for a while, but honestly Zuko hadn’t expected him to trust the stranger enough to do it. But he’d been wrong, he was always wrong, and now the kid won’t stop _staring._

No. Calm. He could do this. He would _not_ let the staring get to him. _He_ was in control, not his temper. He would not be the one to break first. The peasant would break whatever weird standoff this was, not him. He was stronger, he could be more patient, he would outlast-

“THIS IS _NOT_ A ZOO WATER TRIBE! PAINT A PORTRAIT, IT’LL LAST LONGER.”

The other teen jumped back, startled at the scream. He fumbled the torch and dropped the keys onto the cavern floor. The flash of satisfaction at that almost made breaking worth it.

“Right, right, sorry.” The other teen said, making Zuko pause.

 _Sorry_? When was the last time he’d heard that word? Before the Agni Kai probably. It shouldn’t have brought him up short.

It did.

He wasn’t sure what to do, what to say. That moment of pause was apparently enough for the other teen to get his wits about him and open the door, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “Yeah, I guess that was pretty creepy, huh. I mean, you’re supposed to be the creepy one here.”

Zuko’s eyes narrowed. This was much more familiar territory. “If I’m so _creepy_ why are you even here?”

“’Cause standing watch is so _boring_. Seriously, I don’t know how they can stand it. I did everything they had to do in like, five minutes.”

Zuko was pretty certain that after the first few months without a single (successful) escape attempt, they had all started napping. Possibly excluding Jet, who could probably entertain himself by looking in a mirror for hours.

“I feel so _sorry_ for you.” Zuko sneered, gesturing around at the empty place he was surrounded by. Had been surrounded by for years.

The water tribe boy actually _looked around._ He seemed to realize the exact lack of _anything_ that Zuko was trying to show. “Oh. Yeah. I guess this place seems… even more boring. There’s… literally nothing here, huh.”

“And yet, I still liked it better when you weren’t here.” He sneered. Then recoiled back in surprise when Water Tribe _laughed._

“Ooh, I need to get some cream for that burn.”

Zuko gaped. _No one_ laughed at his jokes. Even when he was the heir apparent and the nobles were trying to get in his good graces. Granted, that hadn’t been so much of a joke as much as the truth, but he supposed things could be both. He smirked. “Well, I _am_ a firebender.”

The younger teen snorted at that, looking strangely excited. “Oh man, oh man that was bad. And that was me talking.”

Zuko scowled, but didn’t reply, confused at how the teen’s words didn’t quite match the smile on his face. Water Tribe waited a beat before continuing. “What? Nothing else to say? Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet.” The teen’s eyebrows twitched up at that, again and again as though asking for something. Possibly a laugh.

Zuko _didn’t_ laugh.

“That was _way_ worse that mine.” He argued.

Water Tribe shrugged and sighed. “I guess some people just don’t have good taste.”

“I have _great_ tastes.” Zuko snarled.

“Sure you do, sure you do….” He trailed off. “Uh… huh. I don’t even know your name. I’m Sokka.”

Zuko blinked at teen. This… entire conversation. He was not equipped to deal with this. What was happening right now? Did any of the Freedom Fighters even know his name? He couldn’t remember. His first few days were kinda foggy, he wasn’t sure if they had ever asked for his name. Jet always just called him ‘Firebender’, and there was never any question when any of the others were addressing him. No one had to call him by name.

Should he give a fake name? He could always use ‘Lee’, there were a million ‘Lee’s in the Fire Nation. But that would make it even more suspicious if he had told Jet his real name. They would know he _had_ a reason to use a fake name.

“… Zuko.” He admitted, assured in the knowledge that some Water Tribe peasant wouldn’t know about the Fire Nation’s banished prince.

“Hm, cool name. I mean, not as good as _Sokka,_ but…”

“…Thanks.” Zuko said, finally lowering the fists that he’d pulled up when he’d been yelling. He honestly had never had a conversation like this, and he wasn’t sure exactly… what to do. Court life had never been his specialty. He couldn’t imagine 3 years stuck in a cave by himself had improved anything.

“So… how about that… firebending.”

Ah. Much more familiar. He could do this. “Never.”

“Come on, just like, a spark.”

“No.”

“Please? Just a bit?”

“Does your haircut make you hard of hearing? I said _no_.”

“Come on! I’m here to either like, convince you to firebend again, or figure out how to convince my sister and Aang to get you to firebend again, and I really don’t want to talk to them about all this. So… Please?”

“Oh well in that case-no.”

“Please?”

“No!”

“Pretty please with some seal jerky on top?”

“With- No!”

“Please, please, please?”

“No, no, NO!”

“I have it on good authority, my sister, that I am literally the most annoying person in the world. And _you_ can’t storm off into a glacier. So… please please please please please please plea-“

Zuko opened his mouth to say ‘no’ again, but before he could, he caught the sound of a familiar melodic trill. He relaxed, which Sokka didn’t seem to notice as he continued to chant ‘please’. Zuko scowled. “Shut _up_!” Zuko shouted, startling the younger teen into silence. The almost-birdsong twilled through the cave, but Sokka was still just looking at the Fire Nation teen expectantly.

Zuko gestured at the mouth of the cave. “Well? Didn’t they teach you the signals?”

Sokka looked at Zuko blankly for a moment before he startled to his feet. “Oh yeah, totally, I definitely… what does this one mean?”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “It _means_ one of the non-combatant kids is here with lunch. They aren’t allowed to go past the mouth of the cave so you have to _go get it_.”

“Right right, I knew that. I was just testing you.”

Zuko rolled his eyes as Sokka rushed to the door. As if they had ever told him the signals. No, he’d had to figure them out himself. The tan teen looked back as he slammed the door shut. “Please?”

“NO!” Zuko yelled at a cackling Sokka as the Water Tribe teen ran back up the cave.

The firebender punched out, moving his chi, but he remained in darkness, the only flames in the cave dimming as Sokka got further and further away. Zuko let out a sharp cry of frustration as he dropped his hands. He pulled his hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

At first, the cave had actually improved his firebending. One of Uncle’s favorite legend had been about a retired general who had been captured by the enemy. He had convinced his captors that he was old and harmless, and spent every free moment in his cell working on becoming stronger. Push ups, crunches, katas, anything he could do to build up his strength. Uncle had really admired the general in that story. While the whole ‘pretend to be harmless’ ship had sailed immediately, he could at least use his time captive wisely instead of sitting uselessly.

So he had. He'd spent every moment either meditating or performing katas, or honing his physical strength like in the story. He couldn’t learn any new moves, but those he knew, he _knew_ , and he had the basics down in a way few firebenders his age had time to hone. The meditation had improved his control until each flame was deliberate. He was getting good.

That continued for over a year. The sun does not abandon it’s children easily. However, as the Freedom Fighters were starting to don warmer outfits for the second time his flame… started to stutter. It was harder to hold, each attack growing weaker, flickering out miliseconds before it used to. He’d been cut off from the source for too long, stuck deep underground in darkness and cold. He wanted to feel sunlight _so bad_. But he didn’t, and so he lost the bit of life that was the flame.

They didn’t notice. They couldn’t. They weren’t connected to fire like Zuko. They thought they were improving (they were improving, but not that much), but each day it got harder to fight, harder to hide his failure. He hadn’t wanted to show such an obvious failing. Spite and hatred for Jet ran through his veins, and he knew better than to show any weakness to an enemy.

Last time he did that, he lost half his face.

So he stopped fighting with fire, before it could become obvious that it wasn’t by choice. It took a while for them to notice. He didn’t always use flames, especially once they started letting him try with the clubs, but he couldn't hide it indefinitely.

When Jet first yelled at him for not using his firebending, his morning meditation had barely been as big as a candle flame. Then, a few weeks later he’d overheard Sneers musing with Smellerbee that maybe he had ‘figured out’ that they were using his moves to defeat Fire Nation soldiers. He hadn’t really considered the benefit that they got from fighting him specifically. He had known that they preferred to fight against his bending, but he’d foolishly thought that a group of kids like this had been using it for defense. He hadn’t realized that they were _going after_ his people, had taken out camps and patrols.

He’d been almost happy that he hadn’t been able to produce more than a few sparks in weeks.

The morning that he woke to find his flame completely gone, he’d felt broken, like he was someone else, no longer Zuko. The chill of the cold stone had seemed to seep into his soul. He’d felt so… empty, frozen to the core. He’d had no appetite, leaving the trays with his meals sitting untouched. He hadn’t wanted to move. It was like someone had taken a bit of his life from his soul.

Jet had tried to goad him into a fight, but he hadn’t moved, even when the goading turned into prodding kicks and pokes. He thought he’d almost worried them, because suddenly Meddi-Man had been there. The young face had been creased in fear as he ran every test the partially-trained healer knew.

He’d known that nothing would show up. It wasn’t a physical illness; it was a pain felt in his chi, in his spirit, and in his heart. A pain he still felt, festering and aching. At that moment, he’d felt as though he were the ultimate failure. He hadn’t been sure he could stand to fail again. He’d known none of Meddi-Man’s results would show anything. There was nothing the boy could do to help him. Except… except he did. Not intentionally. The boy had simply pulled out a stethoscope, leaning over Zuko to put the cup at his heart. In minuscule letters near the ear, he could just make out the small etching, ‘Made in the Earth Kingdom’. It had sparked a memory, a dagger bearing the same words. And on the other side had boasted the quote: ‘Never Give Up without a Fight’.

And so he _hadn’t_. He woke up the next morning and sent Jet to the ground, disarmed, in record time.

He was still fighting. Even if that meant dealing with the second most annoying person he’d ever met. (Jet would always hold the number one slot). And fighting… fighting meant keeping secrets.

Zuko may not be the best tactical genius the Fire Nation had, but he wasn’t stupid, and he'd had plenty of time to think. He knew now that they were only keeping him so that they could learn to fight against firebending. If he couldn’t firebend anymore, they wouldn’t keep him. They weren’t going to risk letting him go, Jet wouldn’t stand for that. If they knew he could no longer firebend, he was as good as dead. So he kept secrets, and he fought. No matter what Jet tried, he would keep fighting. No Water Tribe boy and whatever tricks his sister and friend had up their sleeves would stop that.

"I come with food and weapons, your two favorite things, I'm sure." 

No matter how annoying he was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEy, hey Zuko? Zuko can you say one sentence, just one, without italics? Please, I'm begging you.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my last chapter got too big so I had to split it into 2 AGAIN, but I have already written it so I'm posting them simultaneously. 
> 
> Also, I had too many ideas for scenes in future episodes that would be cool in this verse, so I made it a series and hope to post some additional content soon. I'm not going through the whole series, but I have a few fun ideas for certain eps. 
> 
> Thank you so much for everyone who read and reviewed!! I really appreciate it and will try to respond to all of the comments on these last two chapters!! Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy!

Sokka frowned as he hurried up the sloping incline of the cave. This… was a disaster. He came here to prove to himself that the firebender was evil, not laugh at his jokes and exchange small talk. At this point, his internal evil-meter was starting to point the wrong direction, and that was not good. That could lead to bad plans. 

He made it to the mouth of the cave just as one of the little kids was starting to creep in, large basket in hand.

“Hey, woah.” Sokka interrupted the sneaking. “That’s like the one thing I definitely heard Jet say, no one but the official Freedom Fighters in the cave.”

The kid puffed up his chest. “I guess he forgot to tell you, he gave me special permission to see the secret today.”

“Yeah, no. I’m new, not stupid.” Sokka reached forward to grab the basket. Arms freed, the kid folded his arms over his chest in a classic pout position.

“It’s not fair. I’m almost as old as The Duke.”

“This seems like a Jet problem.” Sokka answered, and the kid stomped his foot, but this time obediently scurried away. The Water Tribe teen waited at the entrance for a few moments, making sure the kid actually left before bringing his thoughts back to his earlier concern. How to prove that the Fire Nation kid was as evil as all Fire Nation people tended to be…

He ducked into the hidey hole to check it out before heading down and brightened when he spotted his machete still leaned against the wall by the sharpening tools. That was it! Of course the boy didn’t seem threatening, the guy was just standing there chained to a wall. A Saber Tooth Moose Lion would look tame like that. But in a battle, that was where you saw the true heart of a warrior. That was perfect.

It was a bit of a juggle, with the weapon, basket, and torch all in hand. He had to set his blade on the ground to unlock the door when he finally made it there. For once the firebender, Zuko, wasn’t meditating or practicing katas. Instead he was simply glaring at Sokka, looking at the basket expectantly.

"I come with food and weapons, your two favorite things, I'm sure." The Water Tribe teen said with a smirk, picking back up his machete and placing it inside the door. He opened the basket immediately, all of this stress was making him hungry. And considering hungry was kinda just his default, he was like, super hungry now. He pulled out a pair of identical plates of food.

“Huh,” He said idly, handing one plate over and sitting crosslegged on the ground right outside the chain radius to start in on his own meal. “Does this mean they’re giving me prison food or…”

Zuko rolled his eyes so aggressively that Sokka watched with morbid fascination to see if they would just… fall out or something. They didn’t. “They want me here to _fight._ They aren’t going to starve me.”

Okay, point. Sokka wasn’t about to admit it though, so he just shrugged and started in on the roll on the plate. Zuko was attacking a slice of orange-melon with a meticulous ferocity that was almost fascinating. He even ate every bit of the thick orange and green striped peel, and every bit of pith separating scarlet triangular sections.

“Uh,” Sokka said awkwardly. “Wanna trade? For your… roll or something.” Normally he would ask for the meat, but he had a feeling this kid needed it more than him. Zuko looked at him suspiciously. His eyes were narrowed in an untrusting glare and he clutched his tray harder.

“Why?” He rasped, as though barely holding onto his fury.

“Well you seemed really into that fruit there, buddy-“

“I’m not your buddy.”

“And yeah it’s okay, but I don’t like it _that_ much, and sometimes those… citrusy things hurt my mouth. And bread is, you know, amazing. So I figured it was a win-win.”

“…Fine.” They made the switch, Zuko as tense as someone in a hostage negotiation, Sokka with the ease of someone trading favorite dishes with his sister across the igloo.

It was becoming increasingly hard to think of the firebender as a threat.

Zuko ate the second piece of orange-melon with the same thoroughness, only wasting the hard black seeds. “… there’s a vitamin. In citrus fruit. Good for firebenders.”

“Oh. Huh. Is there fruit that’s good for waterbenders?”

“How would I know? I’m not a waterbender.” The kid asked with a glare.

Sokka lifted his hands in concession. “Right, right sorry. Geeze.”

They sat in silence for a few moments before the guy sighed explosively. “Salt, okay? Waterbenders need a lot of salt.”

“Huh. That’s kinda cool, we use salt a lot back home, for preserving our food and stuff.”

Zuko rolled his eyes, as if the two points should have been obvious together. Which in retrospect, yeah they probably should be. Sokka grabbed the last bit of his lunch and crammed it into his mouth, seeing Zuko finish with his at nearly the same time. As if he’d been keeping pace.

Just how paranoid was this kid?

“So, uh, you want to spar or something?” Sokka asked, accepting the empty plate.

The teen’s eyes glanced at the machete-club still on the floor by the door. “With that?”

“I mean, yeah. Only the best of the Water Tribe weaponry. I mean, technically I’m a _real_ pro at my boomerang, but this isn’t exactly prime boomerang practice area, and throwing at you isn’t that different from practicing throwing at a tree so...”

Zuko looked enraged by that for some reason. “Not that-“ He sputtered. “I can dodge your stupid boomerang, trees can’t do that.”

Sokka gaped at the older teen. “Do you _want_ me to throw my boomerang at you?”

“ _No!”_

Sokka waited for more, but none seemed to be forthcoming so he just chuckled. “Still, small room, not super great. I think I’ll stick with the stabby slashy weapons.”

“Rules are you either use a dull weapon or arm me. Meddi-Man says.”

“ _Arm_ you?”

“There are practice weapons. Somewhere.”

“Oh, yeah, I saw those. You mean I have to go all the way back up there? Again?”

“I use the two foot-and-a-half rods.” Zuko smirked, amusement shining in his dark eyes. Ah, finally, something to start moving the needle the right way on the evil-meter. He made sure to stomp his way up the cave to the hidey hole, hearing a snort of laughter behind him. Hey, wait, evil-meter you’re going the wrong way again. Stop.

He found the weapons and grabbed the ones that Zuko had mentioned. When he got back to the cave, Zuko looked unsettlingly… settled. As if the conversation had brought him to near panic but the thought of fighting was making him more comfortable. Huh. That was definitely points towards _an_ evil scale, the question was should it be Zuko’s or Jet’s?

It was also a question for another time. Before he got sad.

“Uh, here.” He handed over the rods, watching with interest as the other teen spun them and did a few practice moves before settling into a fighting stance. Sokka grabbed his weapon as well. The machete club molded well in his hands, familiar, well-worn, and often used. It was a weapon that served him well on the tundra, through hunts and fighting off predators who had wandered too close to the building. Sure, he hadn’t really used it against _people_ much before Aang’s Avatar Adventure, but his dad had given him plenty of Warrior training.

When he’d been 12.

That had been mostly with a spear which was _actually_ a melee weapon.

Yeah, it wasn’t really a surprise when Zuko kicked the weapon out of his hands and across the room within less than a second of him entering the firebender’s radius. Zuko simply looked at him, flatly unimpressed as Sokka ran across the room to grab the weapon off the ground.

“Really?”

“I wasn’t ready!”

“ _You_ lunged at _me_.”

“That doesn’t mean I was ready.”

That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the sparring. Zuko was just… better at hand to hand than Sokka, though the Water Tribe teen was intelligent and unique enough that he was able to get one over on Zuko on occasion. The cavern didn’t allow much room for creativity, but whenever their was opportunity for it, Sokka would find it. It was kinda his thing.

Finally however, Sokka accidentally stepped too close, and before he could really comprehend what was happening, he was trapped against the cold stone wall, his hands empty and the blade of his own weapon held against his neck.

“Uh,” Sokka said haltingly, fighting to keep the tremble out of his voice. “That was a pretty cool move there. If you could just maybe… give me my club back? And we can… start round 16?”

“No.”

“Okay… well… I get it, you’re tired, I’m tired, we can just call it a draw.”

“I’m not ti- a _draw_? You only disarmed me _once_.”

“Look, we can discuss the whole, 'who won' thing,” Sokka said quickly. Zuko’s hands hadn’t twitched, not even to press the blade harder, but his eyes narrowed in anger and that was not a thing that Sokka wanted at all. “But maybe in a more, uh, more comfortable position. If you could just…” He waved a hand at the blade at his throat.

“Not going to happen, Water Tribe. Jet should have told you not to spar without backup.”

“I mean he definitely probably did. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention because whenever he talks I just hear ‘please punch me in my stupid wheat face’.”

Zuko snorted, a smile perking across his face as though he heard it too, but he quickly schooled his face into a fierce growl. “You should have listened. Because now… you’re my hostage, and you won’t be leaving here until I get what I want.”

Well that was melodramatic. Did this kid have theatre scrolls smuggled here somewhere or something? Then again, Zhao sure did like his angry ‘I’m-more-powerful-than-you’ rants, maybe it was a Fire Nation thing. “Okay, okay. See, communication. We’re getting somewhere. So, what, uh, what exactly is it that you want?”

Wow, that was a _really good_ are-you-an-idiot look. Did he practice that? Zuko brandished the arm not holding the machete, chain clinking loudly through the room.

“… right. You can stop looking at me like that, I know it was a stupid question.” This was _not_ good. If there was one thing Sokka really knew about the Fire Nation kid after this, it was that even if he wasn’t good with conversations, he was really good at fighting and was crazy determined and desperate. So he was prettly securely stuck between a desperate predator and freedom, and any Water Tribe Warrior knew that there was almost no worse place to be.

Wait. Not good at conversations. You know who was really good at conversation? Sokka. He could do this.

“Okay, so, I can see where you’re going with this. Me, stuck, you doing the sticking. Eventually it will be the time for the change in shift and they’ll find me and… what, you think that they’ll see this and just let you walk out of here?”

He scowled harder but, Sokka noticed, still didn’t move the blade any harder into his neck. “Of course not. You will remain my hostage until I’m far enough away that I know I can escape.”

“Okay, okay, and you think you can keep that up for long enough?”

“Your footwork is _terrible_ ; I think I can handle it.”

“Okay, 1-rude, 2- they’re just going to follow you no matter how far you take me.”

“They don’t know what I’m like outside this cave, and neither do you. I won’t have a problem losing them.”

“Wow, you seem… really confident about that. Okay cool, we’ll check off that part as possible. But-“

“ _Probable_.”

“ _Sure_. But this whole… hostage part isn’t going to work. Like, if they get all of the freedom fighters it’ll be like 6 against 1. 7 if you count me.”

“I’m fast. I could kill you before the first one of them even got into my radius, and they know that. They won’t risk it.”

“Then how will you get the manacle off?”

“They’re going to toss me the key, and you’re going to unlock it for me.”

Sokka blinked, surprised. “Wow, you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“For _years._ ”

“… right. Okay, so, getting the manacle off, check. Getting away once you’re out of here, check. The only problem is that this whole part isn’t going to work.” He gestured at the blade against his neck.

“Why not?”

“Because Jet’s a phsyco? And I’m not one of his freedom fighters so, uh, there’s not a great chance that he would care.”

“He wants something from you. Or at least from your traveling companions. He can’t get it if you’re dead.”

“Uh, he wants Katara and Aang to fight you? Want to know a great way to achieve that? Letting them see this. Or worse, showing them my dead body. Actually, that will probably help Jet get his way faster.”

The firebender was silent for a few moments, breathing heavily with his eyes darting back and forth. After a moment Sokka could breath again as the sword was removed from his throat. Zuko yelled angrily, throwing the machete across the room until it crashed against the steel door at the entrance to the cave. He ranted and raved, pacing back and forth along his chains in a desperate ferver.

Sokka breathed in gasping, relieved breaths now that the weapon was gone, but he didn’t… move. He hadn’t had to really convince the Fire Nation teen not to kill him. He’d just pointed out that it wouldn’t actually be helpful and Zuko had just… stopped.

Zuko could have been like, ‘muahaha, I have no reason not to kill you’ and just done it. He hadn’t, and now Sokka had his answer. It wasn’t the one that he’d thought he’d get, but… it was an answer. Now he knew what he needed to plan to do.

When the dinner meal came, Sokka sat beside Zuko along the back wall. 

* * *

Zuko liked to tell himself that he still woke with the sun, as any firebender did. He had no way of knowing whether or not that was true, locked away in the cave as he was. He did know that he woke abruptly, usually several hours before breakfast was brought down, though the exact number of hours depended on the layers of clothing his captors wore.

He didn’t bother asking. Most of them, read: not Jet, probably wouldn’t see a harm in answering, but he was kinda scared that the answer wouldn’t be what he wanted, needed, to hear. So he chose not to risk it.

Still, that meant several hours of morning meditation, channeling flameless chi and berating himself for his failure the day before. No, it wasn’t a failure. Jet was getting sloppier and sloppier, and Sokka had given him some things to think about. By the time Jet got sloppy enough, he’d be ready. The others wouldn’t let _him_ get hurt. Zuko could-

The ex-prince jerked to attention when footsteps sounded down the cave. He frowned. This was early, really early. Unless he’d slept in. Which was an even worse omen than Jet being early.

Jet sauntered in with a wide, smug smirk under the wheat held between his teeth. “Figured you’d already be awake.” He said, as though it was an insult. The relief shooting through Zuko was so intense that he didn’t even think to scowl. At least, not until Jet smirked. He remembered pretty quickly after that.

“What do you _want_ Jet?”

The tan teen leaned against the doorway, as far from Zuko’s chain as he could get while still technically being in the cell. He smirked, a manic kind of victory in his eyes that immediately created a pit in Zuko’s stomach. “Just wanted to get a good look at what will soon be the last firebender in Gaipan.”

The pit widened. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve finally found a way to get rid of the pestilence of your kind for once and for all. Those benders that Sokka can’t get to come and fight you? They’ve agreed to help _me_ fill the reservoir, get us a nice water source for when the big bad firebenders start scorching the forest. " The words were mocking, accompanied by a pair of rolling eyes above a malicious smirk. "A little blasting jelly at the foot of the dam… bye bye Gaipan, and so long Fire Nation.”

Zuko jumped to his feet, the hole in his chest felt bottomless, and even so it couldn’t contain the whole of his horror. “You can’t _do_ that. Gaipan is- it’s been a colony for _years_. It’s non-combatant, there are _families_ there. _Children. Innocents._ You _can’t._ ”

“I can. I can and I will, and I will do a lot more, until your kind has lost even more than you took from the rest of us.” He smirked again, filled with hostile glee at the sight of a frantic, desperate, horrified Zuko screaming at him, struggling like he hadn’t since the first month. Zuko wasn’t even sure what he was saying anymore, a blur of nonsensical denials flooded past his lips as he fought against the metal that had held himself for years. “Now I have to go. Towns aren’t going to flood themselves, and those benders are just so eager to help.”

Jet _left_ then, leaving Zuko behind to scream until his already raspy voice went hoarse, and blood slipped down a scarred and callused wrist. His people were out there, _dying_ , and he couldn’t do anything about it. He was being forced to sit back, helpless and useless and weak, while they all _died._

Not a spark of flame appeared. Still, he fought, he raved, he yelled, until soft leather boots were running down the cave.

Sokka sprinted into the cavern, his eyes extremely wide and mouth gaping as he wrenched the door open. “Woah, woah, what’s wrong? What are you- wait are you bleeding?”

The Fire Nation teen stared at the Water Tribe boy. For all that the kid protested against being one of Jet’s lackeys, he was still _here_. Jet trusted him, which meant that Zuko didn’t. He couldn’t. But desperation didn’t care about trust. It only cared about exhausting every single possibility and not giving up. Not without a fight. “Look, I don’t trust you, and you don’t trust me, but you might be slightly less evil than Jet so- so I’m- I don’t have a choice.” He breathed, fighting past the despair that threatened.

Sokka straightened, his eyes hardening. “Jet’s been extra shifty today. I was going to blow this off to follow him but then I heard you yelling. What is he up to?”

“He’s going to destroy the town.”

“What?”

“He- he’s getting the benders to fill the reservoir and then he’s going to blow it up. It'll flood everything, they won’t have time to escape. You can’t- he can’t- you have to do something. Stop it somehow. He’s going to kill them _all_.”

Sokka was already moving, forcing his way through the door. “Right, we don’t have time. I’m not going to let that happen to those people. And I’m not leaving you for Jet to find when his plan doesn’t work.”

Zuko choked on his next breath, mind slamming to a halt as the incomprehensible, the impossible, suddenly was within his grasp. “What?”

“I’m getting you out of here. I mean, I was planning to do that all along, my timeline just didn’t account for absolute crazy so we’re having to move it up a bit, but it’s fine. I am great under pressure.”

If Zuko could string more than two coherent thoughts together, he would doubt that, but as it was only 2 thoughts circled in his mind. _Jet is going to flood the town_ and _Sokka is breaking me out._ He… honestly he felt too stunned, too utterly blindsided by the comment that it took several seconds for him to even hope.

Sokka easily, comfortably, stepped within Zuko’s range, and it continued to be as perplexing and unusual as it had been the day before, that casual trust that _no one_ gave him. He still wasn’t quite sure what he should do with that trust, as it was a gift he rarely received and almost never gave. So for the moment he chose to ignore it, instead directing the other teen to a spot of chain about a foot and a half from his hand, the weakest link, almost half chipped away. Zuko had been carving at it for years whenever rocks broke free from the walls during fights, until the frail stones crumbled into pebbles too small to use. It would have taken months longer before the chink in the metal would ever become useful.

Sokka hesitated, and it could have just been him trying to figure out the angle, or it could have been him changing his mind, but Zuko wasn’t about to risk it. “Please, I-I-“ As usual however, he messed it up, as he always did, when fear and hope and desperation somehow morphed into more familiar, safer, anger. “We’re wasting _time_! We need to get out to save the town _now_. I swear to you on my honor, I will not send anyone after the Freedom Fighters. I don’t even know what stupid cave they live in.”

The other teen’s expression tightened, hardened, and he brought the machete down once, twice, and the metal broke. Sokka held his weapon tightly, as though he wished he could have spent a few more moment slamming it against the ground, but Zuko was already moving. He had failed his mother the night she disappeared, he had failed his father by disrespecting him, he had failed the 41st division by being unable to sway any minds with that disrespect, and he had failed his uncle when he didn’t arrive on Kyoshi as planned. He would not fail Gaipan.

He stood and wrapped the length of chain still attached to the manacle around his wrist and tucked one end under to keep it from dragging.

“Let’s go.”

Sokka nodded, face fixed and solemn. “Yeah.”

Zuko paused, just for a moment, at the space where the slightest divot in the gave floor marked the spot that he had worn with years of pacing at the edge of his leash. Though he knew the tether was gone, he couldn’t help the flash of fear that he would somehow just bounce back, unable to go any further. He took a single, meditative breath, and ran out of the cave as quickly as his legs could take him.

Zuko let out large, gasping breaths as he found himself in sunlight for the first time in years, eyes nearly closed as he squinted at a light so much brighter than torches could ever create. Any tears that leaked from the corners of his eyes could be attributed to that brightness and nothing more, not the feel of sun warming his skin and his chi for the first time in years, and not the rush of hope filling a space in his heart that had been nearly empty, made hollow by years of fear.

Sokka stood off to the side, either respecting the teen’s need for a moment of peace or feeling too awkward to comment. Zuko didn’t, couldn’t, allow himself more than a moment to relax. He instead utilized the emotional control granted him by countless hours of meditation and turned to the Water Tribe teen. “Where is the reservoir?”

Sokka started and stopped, shaking his head. “We’ll never make it in time, its on the other side of the forest, and Jet had been gone for hours before my shift started.”

“Then what should we _do_?”

“We aren’t far from Gaipan. We may not be able to save the town, but we can get the people who live there out.”

Zuko nodded. “Let’s go.”

The pair ran through the woods, both sighing in relief when they spotted the roofs of the still above-water town in the valley below. Sokka pointed at one of the guards towers and yelled between gasps, slowing to a pause. “Can you like, flame out a distress symbol or something, get their attention or something?”

Zuko stopped as well. He… tried, but he knew even before he did that nothing would happen. Though it was reacting to the sun, his chi felt just as small and sluggish as it had in the cave. Nothing, not even the smallest puff of smoke, would form in his hands. “No.”

Sokka let out an aggrieved cry. “Come on dude. I’m not going to like, tell Jet your secrets or anything. There’s no point in hiding it anymore, this is to save your people! You-“

“I _can’t_ Sokka!” Zuko ran his hands angrily through his greasy hair. “I-I’m not _healthy_.” He yelled, unable to explain it further, explain it better. His fingers came out with clumps of hair that had fallen out of his thinning locks, and he brandished the dark strands at the younger teen as proof. “I _can’t_ firebend, haven’t been able to in over a year.”

Sokka’s mouth dropped open in silent shock for a moment, he gulped and nodded. “We keep running then.”

Zuko nodded. They kept running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also:  
> Me: Looking up the effects of sun deprivation.  
> Me immediately afterwards: Yeah, I'm just going to go.... sit outside for the next few hours.
> 
> Also me: I want Zuko to really enjoy some vitamin C. What complex nutritional needs would each bending type have?? 
> 
> In case you're wondering it is also my headcanon that:  
> Earthbenders need a lot of iron in their diets.  
> Airbenders need lots of sugars and complex carbohydrates, hence the fruit pies. I just feel like they burn a lot of energy.


	6. Chapter 6

Sokka panted beside the firebender (not a firebender now) as they ran. Zuko was starting to fall behind, endurance lacking after his time in the cave, but Sokka didn’t hang back for him. They had to get to Gaipan, stop that little sister-charming murderer from killing an entire town of people.

Any seriously-disturbing-bending-related-revelations would have to wait until after that, no matter how sick it made Sokka to think about. He wasn’t a bender, but… he couldn’t think of a single day that Katara hadn’t bent at least once. It was so important to her, a part of who she was, a part of her identity. He tried to picture her without her bending, with her bending being _taken_ from her and felt… he felt sick.

Therefore, that would have to be future-Sokka’s problem because hopefully, future-Sokka won’t have an entire town to save. The town guardsmen straightened when Sokka burst out of the woods. They were obviously there as a precaution, not guards that actually expected as an attack as they had to scramble to grab their weapons, and Sokka was glad that he had a clearly-fire-nation teenager stumbling out of the woods behind him, to give validity to a stranger’s claims.

As it was, with both Zuko and Sokka there to reveal Jet’s plan, reveal the very real danger to the quaint little village, the guards were quick to listen and quicker to call other soldiers over to begin evacuating the town. Soon, there were dozens of uniformed men running behind and alongside Sokka and Zuko, working to pull people out of homes and shops and parks and push them up the steep inclines that framed their valley. Children cried as they lost toys, coats and shoes fell and were trampled, never to be retrieved by their fleeing owners. Panic and fear filled the streets. However by the time an explosion sounded, large and loud enough to be clearly heard by the screaming civilians, every single person from the town was safe on the banks to watch their homes be destroyed.

Zuko gasped beside Sokka, both of them avoiding the leader of the town as he sought them to ask questions. Sokka side-eyed the other teen. “So, I know why I’m avoiding Mr.Tall-Firey-and-Angry, but…”

Zuko scowled, in what was rapidly becoming a very familiar expression. “I gave you my word that I wouldn’t set anyone on the Freedom Fighters. If I tell them what they did to me…”

Sokka glanced pointedly at the sight of a little girl pulling a soaked doll out of the water. “I’m pretty sure they have plenty of reasons to go after them without you,” He moved away from the gathered people, stepping into the shelter of the woods.

Zuko scowled _harder_ and… followed him _._ “I gave my word.”

“Okaayy, well, really I don’t actually-“ Sokka was interrupted when Appa moaned, having been startled from his earlier hiding place by the sound of the explosion. “Oh hi buddy!” He yelled, as Zuko cursed and stumbled back several paces. He watched the large beast with wide eyes while Sokka scratched it’s head and accepted licks from a tongue longer than him.

Momo jumped out of the saddle and glided over to land on Zuko’s knee. The Fire Nation teen cursed again and crab walked away, which was extremely ineffective as Momo was perched _on him._ Sokka figured that the kid had been having a pretty big day, he could give him a break. “Momo!” He called to the lemur as he climbed onto Appa’s head, and Momo jumped off his new friend to curl around Sokka's shoulders.

He glanced down at Zuko. The older teen looked so small from up there. Bruises stuck out starkly on pale skin, skin which had a sickly tint to it in the sunlight that had been hidden in the yellow torch light. His hair was thin and clumpy, and blood continued to drip down the mess of manacle and chain around his wrist. His clothes were shabby and torn and stained. But he hadn’t told anyone what had happened to him, because he’d given his word. A word that Sokka definitely hadn’t asked for by the way.

Well, his instincts had never lead his astray before. “Hey, hop on.”

“What.”

“If you want. I’m going to go find my sister and Aang and then we will be leaving behind this place so fast that if you blink you won’t see it behind you.”

“You want me… to get on that… thing.”

Appa moaned.

“It’s a sky bison.”

“Those are extinct. They haven’t been seen since the Avatar was still around.”

Sokka snorted. “Have you been living under a rock? The Avatar- oh wow, that was probably the most insensitive thing anyone could have said right there isn’t it? Katara would have frozen me to a wall for that one.”

Zuko snorted, but something in that speech seemed to convince him. He made his way over and hesitantly began climbing onto the bison. Sokka smiled back at the skittish teen, feeling some kind of vindication when Momo jumped from his shoulder to curl in the other boy's lap.

Zuko gave the lemur a ‘what am I supposed to do with this thing?’ look before hesitantly beginning to pet it. Sokka turned forward and began leading Appa through the forest so that the other teen wouldn’t see his smile.

With that strange sixth sense that Appa had to have for his airbender, it wasn’t long before they heard muffled conversation between Katara, Aang, and Jet. They came into true hearing range just in time for Sokka to hear the psychotic Earth Kingdom boy claim “The Fire Nation is gone, and this valley will be safe.”

And well, he wasn’t about to waste an introduction like that. “It will be safe, without you.” He proclaimed proudly as Appa ambled up to the group.

“Sokka!” Katara and Aang yelled joyously.

“We warned the villagers of your plan, just in time.”

“We?” Jet asked, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Zuko jumped smoothly from the saddle, landing in a practiced offensive position with his eyes locked onto Jet. The two waterbenders stepped back uncertainly, but Sokka rarely let anything stop him from talking, and this wouldn’t be one of those things. “They didn’t want to believe me at first, but they believed Zuko. They could sense his flame or something, knew he was a firebender. Knew he was telling the truth. We got everyone out in time.”

Jet’s expression turned dark, and Zuko’s body tensed even further in his offensive stance, not seeming to see the ice incapacitating the teen that had imprisoned him. “Sokka, you fool! You’ve let this firebender poison your mind! We could have freed this valley!”

“Who would be free? Everyone would be dead. And Zuko is just about the only person who’s ever spoken to you who _you_ haven’t poisoned.”

“You traitor!”

Jet spat, and Zuko stepped forward. “Don’t _talk_ about him like that.”

Sokka met Jet’s eyes, hard. “No Jet, you became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people. You’ve been a traitor for _years,_ but no one was willing to say it to your face.”

The annoying punk had the gall to try once more, this time with Katara, who was much too smart to fall for _Jet_.

…Twice.

“Goodbye, Jet.” Katara climbed onto Appa behind Aang. Zuko was still on the ground, hands folded into fists and eyes burning with fury. His eyes hadn’t left Jet since Appa had crested the ridge. The tan teen met his eyes now, chin tilted up proudly, smugly, begging the firebender to show his true colors and beat an incapacitated man. To attack his captor and abuser.

Sokka swallowed thickly. “Hey, buddy? C’mon man let’s get out of here.”

Zuko took one step forward, towards Jet, then immediately pivoted and stalked up to Appa. He jumped forward in a single leap just as graceful as Aang’s air-assisted moves, and had just landed when Sokka called out “Yip yip.”

He wasn’t going to risk Zuko changing his mind, even if his instincts told him that he wouldn’t.

“So, uh… hi?” Aang said tentatively, eyeing Zuko uncertainly. “I’m Aang.” He held out a hand. The firebender stared at it a few moments, as though he’d completely forgotten how normal human interactions worked. After a beat he hesitantly took it.

“Zuko.”

Katara introduced herself as well, with Sokka watching out of the corner of his eye to make sure they played nice. His sister watched the stranger warily. “So, you’re on Appa because…”

Zuko tensed and Sokka used that moment to interrupt before the elder teen used that as a command to jump off the bison. “He’s the one that told me about Jet’s plan, and that village only listened to me because he’d been there. He’s a good guy Katara.” His tone brooked no room for argument. Aang, who was still somehow not as firebender-adverse as one would think the sole survivor of a genocide would be, grinned up at him.

“That’s _amazing._ How did you find out about Jet’s plan? How do you know Sokka?”

“I was…” Zuko’s voice was soft, the raspiness inherent in it making the words almost inaudible. Sokka winced and relished in these last few lecture-free moments before his companions found out that he was complicit in keeping the teen prisoner. “I was Jet’s prisoner. Had been for years. Sokka… he let me out.”

“That’s so cool, Sokka!” Aang proclaimed.

“… Thanks, Aang.” Sokka glanced at Zuko, but the Fire Nation teen quickly looked away. “So, uh, do you have any… any place to go, Zuko? If not, we could definitely use a good firebender in our crew, and I have no clue if we’re ever going to find another one, so…”

“Yeah!” Aang said excitedly. “That would be amazing, you could-“

“If he’s been a prisoner for years, he probably has people missing him.” Katara interrupted, eyeing Zuko as if she could decide whether to avoid his fire or bundle him up like the mama saber-tooth-moose-lion she was inside.

“I… I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I was supposed to meet my uncle on Kyoshi Island, but… I’m a few years late. He won’t be waiting anymore.”

“Wait, wait wait wait!” Sokka turned completely, trusting Appa to guide himself over the empty land. “ _You’re_ Uncle Tea’s nephew?”

“That… would be an appropriate nickname for my uncle, yes. Do you… know him?”

“We met him,” Katara said, sounding stunned. “On Kyoshi Island. He said, he said that he goes there for a few months every year, waiting for his nephew to show up. He wants to stay longer, but said that… someone would get suspicious. I can’t believe _you’re_ his nephew.”

Aang squinted, putting his face inches from Zuko’s own. “Hmmm, I kinda see it!”

Zuko put a hand on the kid’s face and pushed him back. “Do you- do you think he’ll still be there?”

Katara made an expression that showed that the saber-tooth-moose-lion side was winning. “No. I’m sorry, he said he had to go. He should come back next year though!”

“Oh…” Zuko’s shoulders fell, and he glared at his hands.

“But maybe you can come with us until then! He never said where he goes when he’s not at Kyoshi Island, and we’re travelling all over! Maybe we’ll run into someone who knows him. We’ve already travelled to some really cool places!”

* * *

Zuko listened halfheartedly to the airbender, idly petting the lemur that had somehow ended up on his lap again. The younger boy had switched with Sokka as he rambled, sitting at Appa's head while Sokka made his way to join the others in the saddle. The firebender's mind was still circling around the fact that apparently, Uncle was still waiting for him. He his mind continued to wrestle with that incredible, unbelievable fact until the child mentioned Omashu. He jumped as his mind connected the name to a list lovingly compiled by his uncle and long since memorized.

The airbender then began to cheerfully list the places he hoped to visit on their way to the North Pole, and Zuko swallowed thickly as he mentioned more and more places that had been on Uncle’s list. The Water Tribe sibling began to bicker about staying on schedule, which gave him just enough time to swallow and wet his suddenly dry throat.

“If, uh,” He finally interrupted. “If you don’t mind can I just… tag along. For now?”

“Of course, yeah, definitely.” Sokka said immediately, jumping in between him and Katara as if to physically fight any disagreement she would have. The girl just rolled her eyes, but her hostility had diminished significantly since hearing that he was Uncle’s nephew. She pulled a small bag out of her larger pack. “Your shirt is covered in holes. Give it here, I’ll see what I can do.”

He did, watching her face scrunch up in annoyance when she saw the sleeve that had been cut open so he could put the shirt on without taking off the manacle. After a few moments, the passengers settled, Sokka staring at a map, Katara with her sewing, Aang at the beast’s head as he steered. Zuko… Zuko just relished in the feeling of sun and wind on his skin, breathing in the fresh air.

The Fire Nation teen took in a deep breath, and felt his chi move to the sun. 

Moment’s later, his memory of the conversation caught up with him. “Wait, why are you going to the North Pole?”

“Oh,” Sokka said, scribbling something onto a sheet of parchment. “We need the benders there to teach Katara and Aang waterbending, since there aren’t any benders in the South Pole.”

Zuko turned to the tattooed child. “I thought you were an airbender.”

“Oh! I’m the Avatar, sorry I probably should start leading with that.”

“You’re WHAT?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Please remember in this AU, Ozai didn't give him a banishment-ending quest, so this should not lead to any "I must capture the avatar to regain my honor" related events. 
> 
> This is it, Thank you SO MUCH for reading!!! I hope you've enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've seen some 'the Dai Li use Zuko for training against firebending' fics, and some 'the Water Tribe use Zuko for training against firebending' fics, and it got me thinking... I knew at least one more Earth Kingdom teen who was psychotic enough to do something like that. Then that thought wouldn't leave. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Instinctual Podfic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29772195) by [CountessRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CountessRose/pseuds/CountessRose)




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